Turkey withdraws from Afghanistan-Pakistan mediation amid rising tensions

Turkey has withdrawn from its mediation role in the escalating Pakistan–Afghanistan dispute after repeated diplomatic efforts failed to narrow deep-rooted differences between Islamabad and the Islamic Emirate, India’s CNN News18 reported citing senior security and diplomatic sources.

Multiple rounds of talks facilitated by Turkey, alongside Qatar and Saudi Arabia, ended without progress, as Kabul firmly rejected what it described as Pakistan’s “illegitimate” conditions for a broader peace settlement. Turkish officials have formally informed Islamabad that Afghanistan remains unwilling to accommodate Pakistan’s core security demands, prompting Ankara to step back from further mediation.

CNN News18 reported that at the center of the impasse are Pakistan’s demands that the Islamic Emirate hand over Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, establish a five-kilometre buffer zone along the Durand Line, impose stricter controls on Afghan transit trade and goods movement, recognise Islamabad’s security primacy over Kabul, and accelerate the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

Afghan authorities have categorically rejected these demands, arguing they undermine Afghanistan’s sovereignty.